Unbreakable Kiss
by DancingwithDestiny
Summary: Axel and Roxas visit New York City during Roxas' Christmas break from college in 2008. Axel takes him on a tour of the city, when he comes upon an opportunity to break social norms, and be romantic. Will Roxas take him up on the offer? AkuRoku, AU


AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whoo, I finished this in time for Christmas! :D  
Sort of... :/

I got the idea for this fanfic from a story on the New York City news - I have satellite TV, and instead of getting the local PA channels, we get the New York and California ones - kind of a fluff piece, about this...installation (wink), that was put up in Madison Square Park. One random thought led to another, and my imagination took over and led to this. XD  
Since I've never been to New York, I had to do a little research to make sure (nearly) everything was accurate. (Wikipedia got a workout ;D) If I got some details wrong, I'm sorry, New Yorkers :(  
Also, I wrote this in Wordpad, because the Vista Works word processor uploaded weirdly in FanFiction, like cutting off sentences. I wanted to try it in the Wordpad to see if it did the same, and it looks like it didn't. I don't get all that pretty formatting that Works offers (like the slanty quotation marks), but what does that matter, right? :p

I decided to try and fit this in with an AU AkuRoku fanfic idea I've had swimming around in my head for a while, about Axel and Roxas in the city of brotherly love, aka Philadelphia. Thus why there are some larger, underlying plot details in this. I wanted to give them each original, real-life last names to add to the realism here, but I just couldn't think of any good ones in time. :( When I do think of a couple, I'll update this, but just know that they DO have last names in this; I just haven't figured them out yet :/

Oh, and this the FIRST fic I've written/finished entirely on the computer. When I first started writing fanfics, I preferred writing them by hand with a pencil, because I felt that the computer inhibited me creatively somehow. But since I've been writing all my video descriptions for my AMVs on Youtube, I guess I ended up feeling more comfortable with creative writing on the computer, thus I was able to do this. It's certainly a time-saver. And, I don't have to look at my horrible handwriting! :D

I was originally going to call this "New York Christmas," a title which got the song of that same title stuck in my head for the first few days I started writing this, but when I found out what the name of the installation was, I was like "That's it, I'm calling it THAT!" XD  
It's saved on my computer under the old name, though. Which is probably a good thing, since my mom uses this computer... o.O'

I don't own Kingdom Hearts, Axel, Roxas, Demyx or Zexion.

And my sincerest apologies to Elton John and Penelope Cruz...

* * *

"_Damn, _it's cold."

It was mid-afternoon in New York City, and Axel and Roxas had just stepped out onto the wintry streets. A bitter wind gusted through, and there was about an inch of snow on the ground.

"I thought the cold didn't bother you," Roxas remarked with a small smirk.

Axel looked down at him, a small smile forming on his face as well.

"Eh, it's not bothering me; just commenting on the weather, that's all," he said, nonchalant.

For as long as Roxas had known him, which was about 3 years now, Axel was always warm - he attributed it to good circulation and a metabolism on hyperdrive - and always liked to keep as warm as possible, especially in cold weather. So today he was bundled up from head to toe, not excessively, but enough to keep his body temperature just how he liked it. Every part of his body was covered, except for his face, which took the brunt of the cold wind. And of course, he wouldn't wear a hat, because there was no way in hell (or perhaps in this case, Antarctica) that he was going to muss his crowning glory of thick, red, carefully-styled spikes with any type of headwear. He thought hats looked stupid anyway.

So now he wore a navy blue parka, a black scarf, indigo jeans, black boots and black leather gloves.

Roxas was dressed warmly as well, though not quite as much as Axel; though he wore his usual jeans and sneakers, he also put on a grey, heavy hooded sweatshirt with navy blue polyester fleece gloves.

He and Axel were on "holiday," as the Brits would call it, in New York City for Roxas' winter break from college. Roxas wondered why Axel wouldn't have chosen someplace warmer to go, but he figured that was just because NYC was closest to Philadelphia, and therefore a cheaper and shorter trip.

He was having fun there, though; he and Axel had been to all the tourist stops: the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Rockefeller Plaza, Broadway, even Chinatown. As would be stereotypically expected of them, they went to a few Broadway shows, but they also stared at everything in Times Square (or tried to, anyway), tried to ice skate at the rink in Rockefeller Plaza (with humorous results), and went on a shopping spree in Chinatown, ending with the two gorging themselves on Chinese food until they could barely breathe.

They'd done so much, Roxas wasn't sure where they'd go today.

He was about to ask him, but as soon as he looked up at Axel, he spoke.

"Wanna go to Madison Square?"

"Haven't we seen everything there already?"

"We haven't been to Madison Square Park yet," Axel said with a playful smirk.

"Alright."

He and Axel continued down the street, the small amount of snow crunching under their shoes. They made their way to the subway station, and took the one that went right to Madison Square. Axel kept Roxas very close during the ride, holding his hand, and paying close attention to the other passengers nearby. He didn't want to take any chances.

Roxas didn't object. He didn't like the subway; it smelled awful, and some of the people riding on it creeped him out.

"We should've taken a taxi," Roxas whispered.

"What? And not see all this local color?" Axel smirked. "Besides, a taxi would've taken longer; people are coming home from work, and the roads are congested as hell."

"Well, I'd rather risk getting into a car accident than having an encounter with one of these people...at least we'd die quick."

"Aw, Roxas, you think I'd let that happen to you?" Axel smiled. "If anyone tries anything funny with you, I'll let them know that they messed with the wrong queer," he said, pointing to his chest with his thumb.

Roxas smiled.

They reached their stop unscathed, and bidding farewell to their eccentric passengers, they made their way out of the subway station and up the stairway onto the street.

There was snow on the ground here as well, and the streets were filled with people hustling and bustling to get their Christmas shopping done.

Axel kept a hold of Roxas' hand as they walked through the crowd toward the center of the square.

Madison Square Park lay before them, pleasantly uncrowded.

"Here it is," Axel announced happily, sweeping his right hand before him like he were presenting a game show prize.

Roxas peered inside from where he was standing.

"Looks nice."

"Well, let's go in!" Axel grinned in his direction. Roxas nodded, and Axel led him into the park.

The trees were all dusted in white, most of them foliage-less, some of them decorated with electric Christmas lights. Roxas suspected that the park looked much different in the spring and summer, but it was rather beautiful right now, with everything coated in pure white snow. A large monument of a man stood to greet them at the entrance; Axel said it was the William H. Seward Monument. Roxas had no idea who William H. Seward was, but it was an impressive monument nonetheless.

They went further into the park, past the Shake Shack and the Southern Fountain. Roxas was impressed by the newly-restored fountain, which was quite tall, and Axel said that Demyx would've loved it.

Demyx, Axel's (platonic) best friend, was spending his winter break in Southern California with Zexion, whom he had been dating for a few months now. Ordinarily, Demyx wouldn't have been able to afford the trip, but luckily enough, his uncle, Xigbar, lived there, and paid for the plane tickets.

Axel couldn't help but smirk when he thought of this, if only to keep himself from laughing out loud. Xigbar was a surfer. Demyx loved surfing. Zexion...was not a surfer. He was more likely to read a book about surfing than to actually go out in the water and _do_ it. But that wasn't going to stop Demyx from making him try. Axel had met Zexion some months ago; imagining the small, very serious young man taking spill after spill into the water almost made him snicker while Demyx was telling him about it on the phone.

Unfortunately for Axel, Roxas noticed his little smirk.

"What're you smiling about?" he said, playfully suspicious.

"Ah, just thinking about Demyx making Zexy flail around in the water like a fish...oh, I mean, teaching him how to surf," he grinned.

Roxas laughed a little. "Yeah...I bet they're having fun, though."

"Heh, yeah, I don't doubt that," Axel smiled.

They walked on through the park, gazing at the different sites. They saw another monument, and a playground with a few children playing. There was another fountain, and a kiosk selling something called "green" food.

"What do you think of the park?" Axel asked.

Roxas glanced around. "It's nice...very pretty. Definitely peaceful."

"Ha, yeah...no Christmas shopping to be had here," Axel said.

Axel could tell that Roxas was getting bored with the park. He quickened the pace.

They moved toward the center of the park. As they were walking, something made Roxas pause and stare.

"What's that?"

Axel stopped, took a few steps back, and looked in the same direction.

There, to their right, stood a large, round platform, with stage lights and cameras all around it. And just above the middle of the platform, there hung what looked to be a large wreath, but with scattered white berries on it.

"Oh, that?" Axel said. "I think I read about this...or maybe I heard it on TV...this is that thing that the diamond council put up; I think they called it the 'Unbreakable Kiss Mistletoe installation.'"

"Oh yeah, that woman who was in that movie with the two girls robbing banks and making out that Xigbar dragged us to see when he came to visit Demyx opened this place up, right?"

"Something like that, yeah."

Roxas looked up at the mistletoe wreath.

"Mistletoe, huh?"

"Yeah, they said that for every couple that kisses underneath it, the diamond council will donate five bucks to the Elton John AIDS Foundation...and they take a 360-degree photograph of it and post it on their website...something like that." Axel shrugged.

"Seems a little exhibitionist," Roxas smirked.

"Meh," Axel said.

Roxas paused for a moment.

"I wonder what they'd do if two guys got up there and snogged?" Axel grinned.

"They'd probably boo," Roxas said. "And throw things. And throw the picture away. And if they didn't, the couple would be stalked down and killed, just for being who they are."

Axel paused. "Jeez, Rox, the money's going to _Elton John's_ foundation, they have to expect at least _one_ gay couple to get up there and get it on," he grinned.

"You're in a pessimistic mood today," Axel added, shaking his head.

"Well, how can I not be?" Roxas said. "About this, anyway. Our rights keep being taken away more and more every year, and homophobia is still rampant everywhere. It seems like our cause is the last one on the rung...even animals get more attention than we do."

"Now come on, Roxas," Axel said. "That's not true; we're gaining rights, too. It's a struggle, to be sure, but we're slowly winning. Things are different now than they were 20 years ago. More and more people are comfortable with people like us around. The remaining few are just angry about that, so they scream louder to make it look like their side is bigger than it actually is. A lot of people care about people like us, more than ever. Animals just get a lot of attention because...well, they're cute, but also because they're helpless under the humans abusing them, more helpless than us. They're always innocent victims.

"I think our cause is above plant rights, at least," Axel grinned playfully.

Roxas sighed. "I know...I guess there are reasons to be optimistic...it's just hard when you see all the news reports, especially this year." His expression saddened.

"Hey, you know me, whenever I read about stuff like the Pennsylvania legislature voting to 'defend marriage' again, I'm mad as hell," Axel said. "But you can't let that get you down. You have to have hope; that's all we _can _have. I think you told me that once," he said, softly smiling.

Roxas looked up at him, and smiled. "I did, didn't I?"

He sighed again. "Still...I can't help but feel...sad about it sometimes."

There was a long pause. Axel and Roxas both gazed at the installation, as the other park visitors passed by them.

"C'mon Axel, let's go," Roxas announced suddenly, tearing his gaze away. "This park's boring. Hey, we haven't been to Bryant Park yet, that's bound to be more interesting than this place," he said, turning and walking back in the direction they had come.

Axel looked away from the mistletoe installation and stared after Roxas, feeling dejected. After a few seconds, he turned to follow him.

"Alright...wanna get something at the Shake Shack before we go?" he asked.

"Alright."

Axel made a quiet sigh. Roxas had never been entirely comfortable with his certain orientation like Axel was with his; Roxas had come out to him about a year after they met, and not long after that, they became a couple. Partners.

But, while Axel had known that fact about himself for a long time, Roxas had only come to terms with and accepted it after he had met him. Axel knew that part of Roxas hated that he was attracted to men, because it was something he thought still linked him to the abuse he suffered from his foster father, before he and Axel had met. He was afraid to be himself, and have any relationships with those of the same sex, because he didn't want to be reminded of those dark times. Axel had been the only one who earned his deep trust. And that took a long time. But Axel was patient with him, because he loved him more than anything else in this world, and he knew Roxas felt the same about him.

But he also knew that as much as Roxas loved him, Roxas wanted more than anything to just be a normal, straight man, and live a normal life, and never again have to be reminded of his past.

But, that wasn't possible. It was who he was; it couldn't be changed.

Roxas had told him once that being with him was the only good part about his being gay. Axel was flattered, of course, but he knew he had to help him accept who he is, entirely.

In private, Roxas was fine with his homosexuality; even that took a while. In public, it was still hard for him. Though he never explicitly admitted it, Axel knew that Roxas was very afraid. What he had just said about the mistletoe installation proved it. He had heard about all the crimes committed against gays, and he didn't want to risk being abused and violated once again. So in public he kept hand-holding to a minimum, and displays of affection were either kept down to a bare minimum, or forbidden altogether.

Axel respected this, but he also knew that Roxas shouldn't be afraid all his life to be himself. He shouldn't be reckless, of course, but he shouldn't be paranoid, either.

Axel caught up to Roxas and walked with him back to the entrance. They stopped by the Shake Shack, ordered a hot dog and a soda (for Axel) and a strawberry-banana smoothie (for Roxas), and left the park.

--

The next day, the last one of their New York holiday, Axel awoke in their hotel room bed. Roxas lay beside him, still asleep. When they'd rented the room, they'd gotten a couple looks, but Axel shirked it off. He wasn't going to pay for a room with an extra bed just to keep up appearances for strangers whose opinions didn't really matter. Besides, most of them didn't even blink an eye.

He turned over gently, and took a moment to look at the still-sleeping Roxas. Even years later, at 18, he still looked adorable when he was asleep.

Axel slid closer to him, and touched his fingers to his arm, so as not to startle him. The contrast between Roxas' usually moderate-to-cool skin and Axel's naturally-warm skin usually woke him.

Axel leaned over, and whispered in his ear.

"Roxas."

Roxas grunted softly.

"C'mon Roxas, wake up; it's our last day here," Axel whispered sweetly. "Let's make the most of it," he said, then softly kissed Roxas' cheek.

The corners of Roxas' lips turned up in a soft smile. He turned over and moved closer until Axel's lips found his. After one chaste kiss, Roxas opened his eyes - always such a stunning, brilliant blue - and looked up at Axel's, a sparkling emerald green.

"Hi," Axel smiled.

Roxas blinked. "Hi," he smiled back.

"It's bright in here..." he said groggily.

The morning sunlight streamed in through the hotel room window, lighting up the whole room and making it blindingly bright.

"You went to bed early last night," Axel said.

"I was tired," Roxas said, then yawned.

"Walking all day will do that to ya," Axel smiled.

Roxas groaned again.

"C'mon, wake up," Axel said, shaking Roxas' shoulder lightly.

Roxas grunted. "Alright, alright, I'm up, I'm up," he said, sitting up. He ran his fingers through his tousled hair and ruffled it.

"Just wondering, but," Roxas began. "When you say, 'let's make the most of it,' well...shouldn't we pack first?"

Axel laughed lightly. "I'm not talking about _that, _silly," he smiled. "And what way is that to get in the mood? Besides, we can pack tonight."

Roxas looked at him, puzzled.

"Don't worry, I have plans, you'll see," Axel winked.

"You trust me, don't ya?" he smirked.

"Of course I do," Roxas said sleepily.

"Well, let's go, then!" Axel said, getting out of bed with a lithe movement. He sauntered to the other side of the bed, and dragged Roxas out of it.

--

It was mid-afternoon again, and Axel and Roxas had had quite the fun-filled day; they went to the top of the Empire State Building and threw a penny off it (and managed not to kill anyone), went to FAO Schwartz and acted like two year olds (before they were asked to leave), toured the Bronx Zoo (before they were asked to leave, again), and Axel challenged Roxas to a DDR competition at the local arcade, in which Roxas was defeated handily. Axel was about to drag him somewhere else when Roxas planted his feet.

"Axel, stop."

Axel halted, and turned to look at Roxas.

"I thought this trip was going to be just about the two of us spending time together."

"But we _are _spending time together!" Axel protested.

"All you've been doing lately is running me ragged, everywhere," Roxas said.

"Well, maybe I like you ragged," Axel joked.

Roxas' expression didn't change.

"Aw, come on, some of it _has _been fun, right?"

Roxas' expression softened a bit.

"Yeah, it has, I just...want us to relax on our last day here, that's all."

Axel paused a moment. He looked around the snowy city.

"Well, when we get back to Philly, we'll still have some time together before you have to get back to college, and I'll come visit after that...I just wanted this trip to be just plain fun for the two of us. I would've held back a little more with the tourism, but I thought you might be bored...and when are we going to be in New York again?" he mused.

He paused again.

"Alright," he said, turning to Roxas. "No more tourist stops. We'll just relax and enjoy ourselves for the rest of the day."

Roxas heaved a sigh of relief. "Thanks," he smiled.

"For a while there, I was starting to feel like _I _was the one who robbed the cradle," he smirked.

"_Ouch_, that hurt," Axel said, feigning insult. "Well, I guess I deserve that...but hey, everybody needs to act like a complete doofus sometimes," he smiled.

"Can we just go to _one _more place, though?" Axel said.

Roxas didn't like the sound of that. He made a slightly disapproving sound in the back of his throat. "What is it?"

Axel grinned. "It's a surprise."

Roxas sighed.

"Ah, it won't take long, I promise," Axel said, holding up his right hand in a scout's honor sign.

Roxas sighed again. "Alright...if it won't take long."

Axel grinned wider. "Great! Now, hold still..."

"What?!"

--

Axel led Roxas through the streets of New York City, Roxas having no idea where they were going.

Because he was blindfolded.

"Axel, is this gonna take much longer?"

"Nope, we're almost there," Axel replied; the cheer in his voice worried Roxas.

"Why do I have to have this blindfold on? Can't I just take it off now?"

"That would ruin the surprise," Axel said. Roxas swore that he could _hear _him grinning.

Being deprived of sight, Roxas had to rely on his other senses to try and figure out where Axel was taking him. Earlier he had ridden on a subway; he could tell by the sounds and the smell. The air was now brisk and laced with pollution. The snow crunched under his sneakers in unison with Axel's boots, while cars and people passed by on the streets around him.

Other than that, he had nothing.

"Are we there yet?" he asked a few minutes later.

"Shh," Axel said. "I'll tell you when we are."

"Well, are we _close?_"

Axel paused - to smile, Roxas was sure - and said: "We're almost there."

Gradually, the sounds of the city streets began to die away, and were replaced by the sounds of casual conversation, a bird or two calling, and the sound of running water.

"Are we in a park?" Roxas asked.

"Ah-ah, no guessing," Axel said quickly.

"C'mon, Axel..."

"We'll be there in a minute or two, I swear," Axel promised.

Axel led him onward, then Roxas heard the crunching of frozen grass under his sneakers, and Axel walked him up a short stairway. The surface they walked on now was firm and hard, and smooth. He could hear people chattering around them.

"Axel..."

"Shh, we're here."

They came to a stop, then Axel led him a few steps forward, as if shifting him into a certain position on the flat surface.

Then Axel walked away briefly, leaving Roxas stand there for a few seconds, then came back.

"Axel...what's going on?" Roxas said, fear leaking into his voice.

"Shh..." Axel said, standing close to him. He raised his right hand, and ran his fingers down the length of Roxas' jawline, lifting his chin up to face him.

"Do you trust me?" he whispered.

Roxas couldn't say anything. "Uhm..."

"Do you trust me?" Axel repeated; slower, more intense than before.

"...Yes," Roxas breathed.

Axel paused. "Good."

With that, he pulled off Roxas' blindfold in a swift motion, letting it fall to the ground.

Roxas let out a small gasp. The lights around him were blinding, and stung his light-deprived eyes. Then he opened his eyes again, slower, and took in what was around him.

His stomach fell.

"You...you brought me here?" Roxas said, turning to look up at Axel, his voice breaking.

It was the mistletoe installation.

Axel smiled in response.

Roxas broke away from Axel's gaze and looked down.

"No, no...we can't do this," he said, starting to tremble. "Axel, please..."

"Roxas!" Axel reached over and took Roxas' face in both his hands and forced him to look up at him again. Tears had started to form in the blonde's eyes. "Listen to me," he pleaded.

"I know you're scared, I know you're probably mad at me right now, but Roxas, you need this. You need to stop being afraid of being who you are. The only way people like us are going to get the rights they deserve is if they come out and say to the world that they're unashamed and unafraid, and that they're normal people, just like everyone else. Every one who stands up and says that they're proud of who they are brings us one step closer."

"But what if I'm _not _proud of who I am?" Roxas muttered.

"Well, that'd be fine, I guess, but you shouldn't be afraid to be who you are, at least. And besides, you have a lot you _can _be proud of: you got into a good college, you get good grades, you're an upstanding citizen, and, you haven't let your past tear you down. If you had been weaker, you might've killed yourself long ago. But instead you came out stronger, and you won. I'd say that's something you can at least be happy about," Axel smirked softly.

"Anyway, what do we have to lose here? We're going back to Philadelphia tomorrow. And even if somebody got the chance to hurt you, they'd have to go through me first. I'd never let anything like that happen to you, Roxas. I love you more than you can even imagine.

"Besides...you're kind of wounding my ego here," Axel smirked playfully, glancing at the small crowd that had gathered around them.

Roxas was silent for a moment. He looked up at Axel, new tears welling in his eyes. But they were no longer of fear. He smiled feebly.

"Axel..."

Axel began to lean down. Roxas leaned up and over. They moved slowly until their lips finally met.

They heard the sound of more than a dozen cameras going off in unison. The crowd encircling them clapped and cheered happily.

Axel and Roxas kissed tenderly, for how long, they couldn't say. Time seemed to stop, just for them.

They broke away, and Roxas looked up at Axel, all the fear in his eyes completely dissolved. He hopped up, and threw his arms around Axel's neck.

"I love you, Axel," he whispered.

Axel closed his eyes. The words he would never get sick of hearing. Every time Roxas said them, sparks ran through him as if the very words were electric. His heart lifted, sometimes his eyes would tear up, just a bit. Because, even after all this time, he was still in disbelief that Roxas loved him back at least nearly as much as he loved him.

They kissed again.

_The end_

* * *

END NOTE: YAY!! XD  
Yeah, I know, predictable ending; but it was still cute :D

OK, PLEASE review, because this is my first AU, my first yaoi, my first fic written up entirely on the compy, and my most recent piece of creative writing, and I'd REALLY like to know how well I did with it...I know it isn't BAD (I hope DX), but if there's anything I can improve on/fix, or if you loved this to death, let me know. I think the biggest flaw in this may be that I made Axel too preachy :/  
But there's a reason for that! Axel knows how Roxas is; he gets depressed and mopey sometimes, and it comes down to Axel to remind him that life is worth living =) And sometimes Roxas has to do the same with him - though Axel doesn't get mopey; he just gets INCREDIBLY pissed XD

Yaoi...is surprisingly easy to write o.O Though maybe that's just because I kept it REALLY clean XD  
I'm still a little shy about writing anything more...explicit than that... O.O'  
I'm giving this a T rating anyway, just for the suggestion of it and the subject matter. The way I see it, if I wouldn't want a 10-12 year old reading this, I'm slappin' a T rating on it. Of course, that probably doesn't stop anyone, but whatever... :/

But anyway, Happy holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Happy Kwanzaa...

And REVIEW! XD


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